1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a wet-type electrophotographic image forming apparatus. More particularly, the present invention relates to a wet-type electrophotographic image forming apparatus having a fitting unit and an ink recover unit for discarding waste ink or recycling ink, and a setting method thereof.
2. Description of the Related Art
A wet-type electrophotographic image forming apparatus is a printing device that forms an electrostatic latent image by scanning a photoconductive medium with laser beams, fuses a developer onto the electrostatic latent image to obtain a visible image, transfers the visible image to paper, and outputs a desired image. Compared to a dry-type electrophotographic image forming apparatus, the wet-type apparatus is advantageous in that it can obtain a much more vivid image. Therefore, it is more suitable for providing a color printing of high quality.
Furthermore, in the wet type electrophotographic image forming apparatus, ink is circulated from a developing unit to an ink cartridge unit for the purpose of reuse. The recycling procedure is performed by passing ink through a developing unit, an ink recover unit, a fitting unit, and into an ink cartridge unit.
FIG. 1 is a schematic view showing a conventional wet-type electrophotographic image forming apparatus. Referring to FIG. 1, a wet-type electrophotographic image forming apparatus 100 comprises a body 101, a developing unit 102 disposed in the body 101, an ink cartridge unit 106 disposed in the body 101 for supplying ink to the developing unit 102, a door unit 103 disposed in the body 101, and a fitting unit 104 disposed in the body 101. The door unit 103 is provided with a mounting supporter 103a for pushing the developing unit 102 in one direction to completely mount the developing unit 102.
The developing unit 102 includes an ink discharge channel cover 102a for discharging the ink, and the fitting unit 104 includes a male fitting portion 104a fitted into a female fitting portion 106a formed in the ink cartridge unit 106.
According to the above construction example, in order to completely mount the developing unit 102, a user has to perform a series of tasks to open the ink discharge channel cover 102a, fit the male fitting portion 104a into the female fitting portion 106a, and then close the door unit 103 in the ‘S’ direction. These individual tasks can become tedious and can result in the deterioration of the developing unit 102 and the fitting unit 104 over time.
Accordingly, a need exists for a image forming apparatus having a system and method to engage an ink discharge channel and function using a minimum number of individual steps, and preferably, using a motion generated by a single step, such as opening and closing a door unit.